I am no more an audiophile !

Gentlemen.......May I suggest there are no absolutes in the quest for perfect sound reproduction. The variables are infinite and every single one of them, to one degree or another, influences the purity of sound reaching our ears. Something as ordinary as room furnishings, decorations, and their placement affect audible results. Should we be discussing carpet textures or the sonic differences between cloth or leather upholstery with the same zeal? The chance that identical equipment will sound exactly the same when moved from one location to another is at or near zero. How can it possibly be spoken of in absolute terms what an audio component will sound like under differing circumstances. This reveals the elephant in the room once you understand that experiences at one location are next to impossible to duplicate at another location, even with the exact equipment, wires, and source material. The purity of incoming power has relevance as well and differs dramatically in different locations. Even something invisible like humidity and barometric pressure play into the results. Again, the variables are infinite. Believing the sonic integrity of one or more components is somehow universally valid under all applications seems silly. It strikes me as a futile argument believing one's personal opinion of perfect sound could possibly be applicable to all cases.
 
Kuoppis said:
Vive Le Bigue Maque!


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We do not call it that way, for god sake. A big mac is a big mac and a double wooperchesse (my favorite) is a doublewoopercheese.
It s jst the quarterpounder that we do not have.... and everyone knows why...
 
jahjahlove said:
We do not call it that way, for god sake. A big mac is a big mac and a double wooperchesse (my favorite) is a doublewoopercheese.
It s jst the quarterpounder that we do not have.... and everyone knows why...
Click to expand...

Oh really ?
I never enter in McDonald's actually !
Our bistro food is much much better. Both will kill us, but at least we will die with taste ! ;)
 
I agree with the OP's sentiment: for me audiophilia is only a means to an end and the end is musicophilia.
 
jahjahlove said:
We do not call it that way, for god sake. A big mac is a big mac and a double wooperchesse (my favorite) is a doublewoopercheese.
It s jst the quarterpounder that we do not have.... and everyone knows why...
Click to expand...

Of course you don't :). I do live around the corner.

But I just loved the innocent response on my Pulp Fiction quote. It was really hilarious.


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Thanks for all the interesting posts folks ! I guess I should have put more precision in what "audiophile" means to me or use the term "pathologic audiophile" to qualify the ones who listen more to sounds than music, try cables endlessly, doing permanent "upgrades", obsession for tiny details, buying stuff that you already sold years ago, and always search in a system for the part of the reproduction that is not correct instead of just enjoying the music. That is actually what I thought about "audiophile". A kind of psychotic obsession for something vain and that can just ruin your whole life. I have been through this and I am leaving this station.
 
I'll choose the Salmis of Duck (canard en Salmis)
over a Big Mac anyday!

Vive Julia Childs.
 
Mélomane vs audiophile, that is the question! I consider myself the former now although I do relapse at times.

Mélomane is a music lover in French for those not in the know, à-propos since Jérôme started this thread ;)

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RedSectorA said:
Mélomane vs audiophile, that is the question! I consider myself the former now although I do relapse at times.

Mélomane is a music lover in French for those not in the know, à-propos since Jérôme started this thread ;)

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Well, while a mania is a sickness, a philia is the love of something. I'd rather consider myself a Philist than a Maniac :). That said, at least my own Audiophilia goes way beyond what would be purely rational.

But taking the thought a little further, the Wikipedia says (not referred to as a serious source for academic analysis): "An audiophile is a person enthusiastic about high-fidelity sound reproduction. Audiophile values may be applied at all stages of music reproduction: the initial audio recording, the production process, and the playback, which is usually in a home setting. A key goal of audiophiles is to capture the experience of a live musical performance in a room with good acoustics, and reproduce it at home. It is widely agreed that this is very difficult and that even the best-regarded recording and playback systems rarely, if ever, achieve it."

I would argue that this definition lacks an important element from my personal perspective, which is the actual process of producing the music, as well as admiration for other persons technical skill and artistic talent.

So, if the Wikipedia definition would be deemed correct, I might then consider myself a Melaudiophile instead :D.


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I recapped a pair of Klipsch KG2's a neighbor had and drove them with my Audio Space 300b amp and they sounded terrific! It's truly a subjective hobby we're all involved in. A shrink would tell you that buying new gear all the time is an attempt to fill some void in our lives and won't ultimately lead to any kind of audio nirvana, that's for sure! Hopefully we are all enjoying the music and having fun. That's what this hobby and our all-too-brief time on Earth are really all about. Cliche, cliche.
 
I enjoy visiting Audioshark as it has exposed me to equipment that for the most part that I have never even heard of. In addition it has exposed me to different viewpoints from audiophiles/music lovers as this thread has. I don't post very often as I have little to offer this forum but I read a lot of the threads. I enjoy repairing(listening also!) vintage stereo equipment. For anyone that is interested in vintage stereo equipment and has an interest in the repair/restoring of audio equipment I invite you to take a look at my website. I'm sure a lot of you started out many years ago with this same equipment. I've never sold a piece of equipment that I've worked on but I've been told by my other half that it might be a good idea if I did. Now throw in that I use modern speakers and a modern CD player in my reference system with my old stuff...... I'm not sure where I fall in the audio world but I'm where I should be.

I don't care if it's a train wreck like this Technic's Amplifier.....

http://www.vintageaudioaddict.com/technics_se9600p/technics_se9600p.htm


or a classic like this Marantz 10B tuner.....

http://www.vintageaudioaddict.com/marantz_10b/marantz_10b.htm


They all get the same attention no matter if it makes financial sense or not.

If your interested you can read my story......

http://www.vintageaudioaddict.com/my_story/my_story.htm

Happy Listening!
 
Since this thread contains subject matter that tends to fire me up, I decided to capture the bulk of my thoughts on video. Now before I post up a link, I need to make it clear that I am NOT targeting our fellow Sharkey, Jerome. Jerome, if you're reading this, just know that I am happy that you've found peace in your journey. I truly mean that.

So on that note, here are my unbridled 6 AM thoughts on this (and one other) subject:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyVUKGxFnUk

All in all, I'm proud of the fact that I'm an audiophile. The entire experience has enriched my life, and I don't think anyone should be ashamed of their desire to enjoy a great listening experience.
 
Zero... I can't say I agree with your generalised definition of an "audiophile". If I were simply a gear lover, I wouldn't be clocking up 2,500 hours p.a, analysing. Especially on the same equipment.

I'm not sure if someone that is busy exhausting their time gear swapping, unpacking, assembling, analysing, disassembling, packing, trading for the next shiny new box constitutes an audiophile.

Similarly, if I were a just a mere "music lover", a mid-fi system such as the brand stereo-typed, would not meet my personal expectation levels. I also know people with those particular lifestyle systems. Typically they are those who seek a simplistic, multi-purpose solution, eg background music, some surround sound. Sure they like listening to music but it is incidental to their lifestyle. I would hardly call those people music lovers either. Music lovers tend to extend themselves into a hobby of collecting music and purchasing Hi-Fi is a progressive outcome.

Undoubtedly, there is a notional Hi-Fi hobby scale that is highly subjective. The enthusiastic, articulate, passionate, eccentric, obsessive and compulsive tend to have a greater propensity to spend on lifestyle to satisfy their particular goal. A goal where an objective may never be met.
 
I'll be honest with you Steve, and I mean this in the most respectful way possible.... Either I wasn't very clear in my video, or you took something away from it that was totally unintended.

An audiophile is somebody who is enthusiastic about high quality sound reproduction. That is quite literally THE definition of an audiophile, and it applies to a wide variety of people. I'm not sure what there is to disagree with?

As for the whole music lover thing.. A music lover is somebody who is passionate about music, but may not know or care about listening to it on high quality gear. An audiophile is the music lover who actually cares about hearing their favorite tunes played back through a high-quality system.
 
Zero...It's a complicated argument for an audience of complicated people. :D
 
I guess by listening to and reading this thread, It appears to me that based on what this thread has noted, I guess I'm not an audiophile, I'm a music lover instead. I played music ever since Jr High School all the way through and after college and had have owed some nice gear but in today's world and time I would rather set down in my comfy chair and enjoy the music rather that spend days trying to figure out if this IC or if this $999.00 USB cable is better than last 10 I tried.
I just want to listen to the music in my happy place.

So I'm no more an Audiophile than a nuclear physicist, but I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express once. :D
 
We are all audiophiles and we are all music lovers, otherwise, we wouldn't be here. Being an audiophile means you recognize and appreciate the benefits of a better medium to more affectively and accurately bring you the message.

Sean - where I would disagree on your view of "audiophile sounds/hifi" vs "musical". What I mean by audiophile sounds/hifi is the measurement crowd vs the "that system gave me goosebumps, it was like I was right there with the band" crowd. By seeking measurement perfection over musicality, we often strip away the organic nature of the music. Does the 1968 Martin D-45 still sound like a Martin D-45 or does it now sound like something else?

I will admit, measurements are an important footnote for any product. But it's ultimately how it sounds that is most important.

A perfect example: anyone looking at the specs alone of a SET 300b amp would never buy it. But once they hear it, well, that's another story.
 
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